KBL Swiss Private Banking has appointed Daniel Boos to the executive committee of KBL (Switzerland) Ltd. As head of international private banking, his role will be to develop KBL spb’s international private banking activities in strategic markets, notably in the Middle East.Daniel Boos is a Swiss national with two decades of experience in the financial services sector in Switzerland and abroad. He was formerly based in the United Arab Emirates, where he ran the representative offices of Credit Suisse and Clariden Leu.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Assets under management at the Bellevue group, including those at Bank am Bellevue and those at Bellevue Asset Management, have increase 20% in the year 2013, to a total of CHF4.33bn. Assets under management alone at Bellevue Asset Management totalled CHF2.6bn, up 33% due largely to the good performance of the markets. Inflows have totalled CHF102m.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has merged eight departments and four have been created in order to keep up with rapid developments in capital markets and the asset management sector, Asian Investor reports. The new departments are: bond investment, innovative activities, private investment funds and combating market abuses. Meanwhile, the two departments dedicated to supervising publicly-traded companies have been merged, as well as the two departments dedicated to overseeing futures markets. Also merged are the two divisions dedicated to supervising funds and intermediaries, and the two divisions overseeing initial public offerings and growth businesses. The regulator has not provided a specific timetable for the effective implementation of the restructuring, simply stating that it will try to release details about the responsibilities of each new department “as soon as possible.”

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The UK government will require asset management firms to supply details of all costs related to defined contribution pensions, Fund Web reports. The measure was confirmed in a written declaration from pensions minister Steve Webb.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Kames Capital is adding to its range of multi-asset class products. The British asset management firm, based in Lnodon and Edinburgh, with EUR64bn in assets under management, has announced the launch of a new diversified fund. The vehicle, entitled Kames Diversified Income Fund, will officially be on the market from 27 February, and will invest in investment grade and high yield bonds, international and British equities oriented to income and dividends, and lastly, alternative asset classes. The fund will be managed by Vincent McEntegart, a member of the multi-asset class board at Kames. The fund will distribute revenues every month, with a return objective of 5%. At its launch, the fund will have the following allocation: 21% of the portfolio will invest in high yield bonds, 19% in investment grade bonds, 23% in international equities, 14% in British equities, 22% in alternative assets, and 1% in cash.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The London-based boutique Heptagon Capital has added to its Irish platform with the launch of two global equity funds, Citywire Global reveals. These bring the product range from the firm to five funds, with assets under management of USD2.8bn. The two new strategies offered to European investors are the Oppenheimer Global Focus Equity and the Kopernik Global All-Cap Equity, both of which are outsourced to third-party firms.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } ETF Securities and E Fund Management, based in Hong Kong, are preparing to launch a UCITS ETF on the MSCI China A index, ETF.com Editors reports. Source, in partnership with CSOP, and db X-trackers with Harvest already offer ETFs of Chinese A-class equities. Following regulatory clearance, the details of the new product will be released later in first quarter.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } HSBC Private Bank has appointed two global co-heads for its investment strategy. Olivier Pacton will be based in Hong Kong and Jean-Christophe Gerard will be based in London, Asian Investor reports. They replace Nigel Webber, who left his role as chief investment officer at the end of 2013. The introduction of the dual positions seeks to respond to the evolution of private banking worldwide and is expected to allow for better proximity to the client. Pacton was previously responsible for investment strategy for the Asia-Pacific region, while Gerard, who had been based in Geneva, was responsible for investment strategy for Europe. They are now responsible for selection of ideas as well as investment products and services which will be operated by HSBC Private Bank. They are at the head of a team of 500 people worldwide, based in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The Hedge Fund Association (HFA) announced on Monday the results of the 2014/2015 board of director’s election. HFA members in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America and the Cayman Islands elected 15 leaders to work on behalf of the global hedge fund industry, including over 10,000 hedge funds in the U.S. and abroad which collectively manage in excess of USD2.8 trillion in assets, institutional and high-net worth investors, and industry service providers.The 2014/2015 HFA Board of Directors are:President: Mitch Ackles, Hedge Fund PR Vice President: Ron Geffner, Sadis & Goldberg Chairman: David Friedland, Magnum U.S. Investments Representing Hedge Fund Allocators:David Friedland, Magnum U.S. Investments Evan H. Katz, Crawford Ventures April Rudin, The Rudin Group Michael Scanlon, AiCE Group - Silver Leaf Partners Don Steinbrugge, Agecroft Partners Representing Hedge Fund Managers:Tony Acquadro, BTS Asset Management Joseph DeMatteo Sr., JDM Capital Corp. Frederick Pye, Landry Investment Management George Schultze, Schultze Asset Management John Taylor, White Oak Global Advisors Representing Hedge Fund Service Providers:Mitch Ackles, Hedge Fund PR Joshua Blumenthal, Rothstein Kass Ron Geffner, Sadis & Goldberg Richard Heller, Thompson Hine Kislay Shah, McGladrey

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Strong turbulence on emerging markets has claimed a new victim. Avantium Investment Management (IM), a hedge fund specialised in emerging markets and launched for former Deutsche Bank employees, has closed its doors after only two and a half years of activity, eFinancial News reports. The firm has had to close its doors after posting large redemptions to investors who lost appetite in emerging markets, although no sums have been disclosed. At its launch in October 2011, Avantium had about USD200m in assets. These assets rose to USD800m at their highest in May 2013. Since then, the firm has been hit hard by decisions by investors to withdraw their money even though the current size of the fund is difficult to evaluate.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) cited by Reuters, private equity firms active on the European market are confident in the evolution of the sector in 2014. The study of 232 private equity firms finds that 60% of them are betting on rising markets, and that 70% expect investment to rise. But although financing conditions have improved, respondents are not hoping to reach pre-crisis levels this year, says Steve Roberts, director of privte equity at PwC Germany.

The US firm First Trust Advisors, which last year launched its commercial offensive in Europe with its London-based entity First trust Global Portfolios, would like to accelerate its growth on the continent. The three UCITS format products launched in early April 2013, three ETFs dedicated to US large caps, emerging markets and British equities, respectively, posted inflows of about USD150m in less than one year. Assets under management in Europe currently total USD250m.“The marked interest of investors in our ETF products is related to the simplicity of our approach. We bet on fundamentals,” Martin Molère, head of sales at First Trust for continental Europe, said earlier this week during a visit to Paris.Smart ETFs from First Trust, including the AlphaDEX ETF family, use a proprietary methodology which analyses growth factors (price appreciation over three, six and twelve months; growth of sales and share price/sales ratio) and value factors (accounting price/value ratio, share price/cash flow ratio and returns on owners’ equity) in stock-picking. “For the most part, we select the least expensive shares and those which have the most momentum,” says Martin Molère. He adds that all ETFs on offer from First Trust are physical ETFs which do not engage in securities lending.The performance of ETFs on offer since Spring 2013 is flattering. From its launch on 9 April 2013 until 21 February 2014, the First Trust US Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Ucitsd ETF has posted outperformance of 3.5 percentage points compared with its benchmark index. The First Trust EM AlphaDEX Ucits ETF lags 80 basis points behind its benchmark, but the First Trust UK AlphaDEX Ucits ETF has earned outperformance of 13 percentage points over its benchmark.Assets under management at the First Trust group have risen from about USd70bn as of the end of 2012 to USD90bn currently, but a considerable part of that growth is due to ETFs, which now account for USD22bn, compared with USD11bn as of the end of 2012.International assets now represent only USD500m. Molère plans to increase the European presence of First Trust. The ETFs already launched by First Trust are now available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France, the largest continental European market for First Trust. But there is now serious talk of launching an offensive on the Swiss and Benelux markets. At least two new ETFs are coming, one based on the euro zone, and one on US small and midcaps; the euro zone strategy may be launched by summer. Personnel at the London offices have increased in a short period of time from 10 to 20, three quarters of whom are specialised in distribution.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } BNL (BNP Paribas group) has confirmed the arrival of Carmelo Salamone as head of sales for the financial adviser network, Bluerating reports. He will report to Ferdinando Rebecchi, head of development and financial advising at BNL, and will manage the network of financial advisers at the Italian bank.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Investment Week, Aviva Investors, an affiliate of the eponymous insurer, is planning to launch a low-volatility absolute return fund as part of its initiative to simplify its product range since the arrival of Euan Munro as CEO. The objective will be to compete with the Global Asset Return Strategies (GARS) multi-asset class team at Standard Life Investments, for good reason. Before joining Aviva Investors, Munro was one of the founding members of the GARS team, and as head of the multi-asset class branch, he greatly contributed to the growth of the franchise, which now has GBP20bn in assets. As Investment Week reveals, since his arrival as head of Aviva Investors, Munro has sounded the market with his ideas for multi-asset class strategies. Although Munro has no plans to create an exact replica of the GARS team at Aviva Investors, he is nonetheless seeking to construct a product income-oriented, and low-volatility funds investing throughout various asset classes in a manner similar to that of the range from Standard Life Investments.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The research provider Morningstar has announced the appointment of Heather Brilliant, currently director for corporate and equity research, and Mark Roomans, currently chief operating officer at Morningstar Europe, have been appointed as co-CEOs of Morningstar Australasia in Sydney from 1 April. Anthony Serhan, currently CEO of Morningstar Australasia, has been appointed as managing director for Asia-Pacific research strategy in the global research group at Morningstar. Mark Roomans will continue to serve as COO for Europe.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The Swiss sustainable development research specialist RepRisk has published a study of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in four emerging markets: Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey. Jim O’Neill at Goldman Sachs, who popularized the acronym BRIC in reference to Brazil, Russia, India and China, now uses the term MINT to refer to these four countries. The countries offer potential for considerable growth, but non-negligible risks are associated with this potential, particularly as concerns sustainable development. The risk indicator (RRI) launched by RepRisk in December 2013, which concentrates on ESG risks and risks associated with investment, deontology and reputation, currently stands at 57 out of 100 for Mexico, off a peak of 58 in December 2013. The RRI index for Turkey, which reached 59 in April 2013, now stands at 51, while Nigeria and Indonesia now stand at 59, compared with 64 in April 2013.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Aletti Gestielle Sgr and Unicasim have launched the Crescita Impresa Italia fund, which will invest in Italian corporate bonds with target total revenues of EUR10m to EUR250m, Funds People Italia reports. This represents a universe of 20,000 companies, taking into acount those with a rating equal to or higher than investment grade. The duration of the fund is seven years, and the subscription period is 12 months, with an objective of assets of EUR100m. The closed fund is reserved for institutional investors.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } The British asset management firm Ingenious Asset Management (AM) which has GBP1.4bn in assets, has appointed Andrew Waldren to the newly-created position of chief operating officer, Fundweb reports. Waldren had previously served at J. Stern & Co, after serving in a variety of roles at Taylor Young Investment Management and BNP Paribas.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Henderson Global Investors “imaking up for a handicap” according to Les Echos, after “trying years” in the eyes of its CEO, Andrew Formica, related to the integration of acquisitions of New Star Am in 2009 and Gartmore in 2011. The director is now aiming for organic growth “above all” at a pace of 5% to 10% growth per year for five years, which may allow the group, if the evolution of the markets allows it, to double the size of its assets (which now total GBP70bn) by 2018. Henderson GI has not ruled out other growth operations. “We are still seeking acquisition opportunities,” Formica admits, though he is now interested in strengthening expertise in US equities or emerging market and Asian fixed income. The asset management firm, now present in 15 countries, is not planning any new openings this year.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Fidelity Worldwide Investment on 24 February announced the appointment of Ferdinand Alexander Leisten as head of asset management activities for the US group in Germany. In his new role, Leisten will report to Jon Skillman, head for continental Europe at Fidelity, and he joins the steering committee for continental Europe. Leisten has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, and previously (until October 2013) served as head of institutional management at Sal. Oppenheim. “For Fidelity, Germany is the most important market in continental Europe and plays a central role in our international strategy,” says Skillman in a statement. “We would like to exploit the enormous potential of the German market and to increase our market share. That applies both to open-ended funds and institutional funds on the FFB fund platform,” Skillman says.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has hired James Peagam as European head for Global Insurance Solutions. He will be responsible for leading the business in building and developing investment strategies and solutions for European insurers and reinsurers. Based in London and reporting to Matt Malloy, head of global insurance solutions, Peagam will be responsible for the European business of the 35-strong global team of professionals dedicated to working with insurance companies. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Peagam was Head of Sales Strategy for the EMEA Financial Institutions Group at BlackRock. Prior to this he held insurance roles at The Royal Bank of Scotland/ABN AMRO Bank in the US and EMEA and is a qualified engineer.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } According to Citywire Wealth Managers, three senior managers specialised in fixed income and based in London are preparing to leave Invesco. They are Stuart Campbell, Phillip Ridge and Lindsay Missen.

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Bordier & Cie is opening to new horizons. The Swiss private bank has announced the opening of a new office in the United Kingdom, with the assistance of Berry Asset Management, Citywire reports. Pending the approval of the FCA, the British regulator, Bordier & Cie UK is planning to open in London in the next six months. Bordier formed a strategic alliance with Berry AM in 2001, and now the Swiss group controls 70% of shares in Berry AM, while the remainder are controlled by employees. The new Bordier entity, called Bordier & Cie UK, will include two units: the pre-existing Berry AM activity in London, which will serve existing clients, while a new team will be recruited to build an international division. Jamie Berry and Jamie MacLeod, respectively chairman and CEO of Berry AM, will serve as chairman and CEO of Bordier & Cie UK.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has hired Wylie A. Tollette as the pension fund’s Chief Operating Investment Officer (COIO). Tollette takes over the position previously held by Janine Guillot, who left CalPERS in July 2013. Tollette will start as COIO on March 31.Tollette joins CalPERS from Franklin Templeton Investments, where he has worked for more than 19 years and most recently served as Senior Vice President for Portfolio Analysis and Investment Risk Management. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, he held positions at American Savings Bank and KPMG Peat Marwick. As COIO, Tollette will lead the business and operations functions of the Investment Office. He will provide leadership with matters related to investment policy, and will manage investment compliance, operational risk and audit-related functions. He will serve as a member of the Investment Office senior management team, as well as the CalPERS executive staff, where a key focus of his will be to continue the ongoing enhancement of the CalPERS investment process and risk management infrastructure.

Dédié à la gestion de fonds de fonds de capital-investissement, Access Capital Partners (5,3 milliards d’euros d’encours) a gagné un mandat pour le compte du fonds de pension allemand Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) pour un montant confidentiel, révèle Les Echos. Au titre de ce programme, le gérant français aura pour mission d’investir dans des véhicules de LBO et de capital-développement technologique qui prennent des participations dans des PME européennes.

Onze fonds de pension islandais se sont associés pour créer un fonds de capital investissement ciblé sur des placements locaux, augmentant les craintes d’une bulle sur le prix des actifs dans le pays, rapporte le Financial Times fund management. Le fonds a levé l’équivalent de 38 millions de livres. Il s’agit du deuxième produit lancé par le secteur des fonds de pension depuis la crise.

KBL Swiss Private Banking vient d’annoncer la nomination de Daniel Boos au comité de direction de KBL (Switzerland) Ltd. En sa qualité de head of international private banking, il aura pour mission de développer les activités de banque privée de KBL spb à l’international dans des marchés stratégiques, notamment au Moyen-Orient. «Par cet engagement, KBL spb, membre du groupe KBL European Private Bankers, confirme sa présence et sa volonté de poursuivre son développement en Suisse», souligne la société dans un communiqué.De nationalité suisse, Daniel Boos est fort de vingt ans d’expérience dans le secteur des services financiers en Suisse et à l’étranger. Sa carrière internationale l’a emmené aux Émirats arabes unis, où il dirigeait les bureaux de représentation des banques Crédit Suisse et Clariden Leu.KBL epb ambitionne d’entrer dans le classement des 20 meilleurs groupes européens de banques privées à l’horizon 2015 avec un minimum de 50 milliards d’euros en actifs sous gestion (contre 44 milliards d’euros actuellement) et 100 millions d’euros de bénéfice annuel net. Au premier semestre 2013, le groupe KBL a dégagé un bénéfice de 41,9 millions d’euros.

Credit Suisse procède pour son fonds immobilier Credit Suisse 1a Immo PK à une augmentation de capital de 228,1 millions de francs suisses au maximum. La période de souscription s'étend du 3 au 14 mars 2014 à 12 heures, précise la banque dans un communiqué publié le 25 février. Quatorze parts existantes donnent droit à la souscription d’une nouvelle part. Au total, 188.525 nouvelles parts seront émises à un prix de 1.210 francs suisses net par nouvelle part.Le nombre effectif des nouvelles parts émises sera communiqué le 20 mars 2014. Le produit de cette émission servira à compléter des nouveaux projets de construction et à développer le portefeuille de Credit Suisse.

Les actifs sous gestion du groupe Bellevue, c’est–à-dire ceux de Bank am Bellevue et ceux de Bellevue Asset Management, se sont accrus de 20% durant l’année 2013 pour s'établir à 4,33 milliards de francs suisses. Les seuls actifs sous gestion de Bellevue Asset Management se sont établis à 2,6 milliards de francs suisses, en hausse de 33% grâce surtout à la bonne tenue des marchés. La collecte nette s’est inscrite à 102 millions de francs suisses.

Le fournisseur de recherche Morningstar a annoncé que Heather Brilliant, actuellement global director pour la recherche crédit corporate et actions, et Mark Roomans, actuellement chief operating officer de Morningstar Europe, ont été nommés co-CEO de Morningstar Australasia à Sydney à compter du 1er avril.Anthony Serhan, actuellement CEO de Morningstar Australasia, a été nommé managing director pour la stratégie de recherche en Asie-Pacifique au sein du global research group de Morningstar. Mark Roomans continuera d’exercer ses fonctions de COO pour l’Europe.